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Auburn Avenue man accused of helping brother flee crash scene

An Auburn Avenue man accused of drinking and driving and striking a parked car early Saturday became uncooperative with investigating officers and briefly managed to flee with the help of his brother, who drove to the scene and almost struck several firefighters in the escape, according to Buffalo police.

Northwest district officers said the incident started at about 12:15 a.m., when a vehicle driven by Pascale Nirampeba, 20, struck the parked car at Riverside Avenue and Tonawanda Street.

At some point Nirampeba’s brother, Donacian Nibaruta, 18, of the same Auburn Avenue address, pulled up to the crash scene and had his brother get in. The two sped off, almost hitting several firefighters from Engine 26 who had responded to the call, police said.

It’s not clear from the arrest reports how far the brothers, who are natives of Tanzania, got in their escape before they were taken into custody, police said.

Officers say Nirampeba smelled of alcohol, had glassy eyes and slurred speech, was vomiting and acted aggressively toward the lieutenant on the scene. He registered a 0.13 percent blood-alcohol level and is charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to keep right, fleeing a property-damage accident and obstructing governmental administration, police said. Nibaruta is charged with obstructing governmental administration.